


publicity

by WattStalf



Series: A Not-So-Blue Planet [5]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence, Gen, Kink Meme, but not kinky, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 22:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6257554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrian Veidt has always known how to use image to his advantage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	publicity

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, more of that no Dr. Manhattan AU I've been working on. As always, I'd recommend reading the older ones first, or at least read Laurie's.  
> Sorry this one is short, but there's not much I wanted to touch on.

If he were going to make any real change in the world, Adrian knew that he would have to look at things on a grander scale. For years, his work as Ozymandias was productive enough, but it was only one small step in the grand scheme of things, though when he first started out, he hadn't known what the end goal was. It was only after he began to realize that he couldn't achieve anything if he did not think bigger that he really knew what had to be done.

Becoming a politician was the only way he could actually change what happened in the world around him. The hero work was too small, his work in business was too small, but if he had real power, then he would have real influence. Then he could truly save the world. But his hero work and his work in business were not completely useless; both had given him a strong, positive image that, if united, could guarantee him a spot as one of America's favorite figures.

He had always managed to maintain a good image over the years. When he had begun getting paired with Silk Spectre for nearly every patrol in the Crimebusters, it wasn't hard for him to figure out that her mother was pulling the strings there, convincing Hollis and Captain Metropolis to put them together. Sally looked out for image herself, and her ideas weren't bad. If she was trying to push them together, she obviously thought a relationship between them would look good on her daughter, and he knew that it would look good on him too.

Two attractive super heroes, madly in love, fighting crime side by side? The public would eat it up, and Laurie wasn't just beautiful, she was daughter and successor to the most famous female super hero of all time. He didn't have much of a romantic interest in her, but he was willing to play along. She was nice enough and he didn't mind talking to her, and when he began to realize that he was going to have to go into politics, he thought she would be good for a political wife.

So Adrian continued to build up his image on both sides, waiting for the perfect chance to merge them and begin his political career. It wasn't hard to figure out the right time, when he knew that the super hero bubble would have to burst one of these days. He had to get out before that happened, but not so soon that people would actually miss him as Ozymandias. It had to look like he had made a good decision, that he had left gracefully and at the right time.

When he did eventually unmask himself, it went just as well as he anticipated and he merged his two identities seamlessly. The next presidential election would be when he made his political debut, because he knew that starting with anything less would be selling himself short. For now, he could continue to build up his image of someone who wanted only what was best for his country, so that when he announced his running, he would seem like the obvious choice.

The Keene Act was passed two years after his retirement, and the nation hated vigilantes more than ever before, but because he had gotten out on his own, at just the right time, he was somehow exempt from this hatred. In order to help Laurie find her place in the world after this, in order to preserve her image, and in order to keep up with the benefits of their relationship, he proposed to her.

It was no surprise that she accepted; she had nowhere else to go. Her entire life had been spent training to be a vigilante and now she couldn't do that. She confessed that she had never really liked it, but that did not mean she had experience with anything else, and there wasn't a career left for her. Marrying him was the best decision she could make, and she had to have some sort of fondness for him. He was incredibly good at reading people, but he had never been able to figure out if she knew how much of their relationship was for show or if she even cared.

They went through all the motions of a couple, however, and he provided for her and gave her whatever she needed. She stuck by his side when he announced that he was running and she was there to celebrate with him when he won by a landslide, his perfect First Lady. Laurie had her charities and activities that kept her busy and kept her looking good while he did his work.

First and foremost, he made sure that the Comedian was out of commission. The man had been the only hero legally allowed to practice, having practically been Richard Nixon's lapdog, but Adrian had never cared for him. In fact, he loathed the man, and he made sure that, when he was running things, that Edward Blake became just another retired hero. It was slightly personal, he knew, but he also knew that soon enough, the Comedian wouldn't have a purpose to serve either way. Better to get the man out of the way early on.

To say things improved when he was in office would be an understatement. He was so attractive and charming and smart that there was not a major power in the world who did not want to take his side. To not take his side felt stupid, and to be against him would be to make a fool of yourself. The world had been stuck in limbo for so long, everyone afraid of what their enemies could do, everyone afraid to move themselves, but he worked tirelessly to bring them together and remove need for that level of paranoia. Suddenly, peace did not seem like such an unattainable goal.

He had accomplished so much in his life and he was only just beginning, with his sights set on always reaching for the bigger and the better. Laurie was so adored by the public and they were so good at playing their parts that they were beloved as a couple and they were always told what a shame it was that they didn't have children. And the illusion was never shattered because Laurie had practice with this and Adrian would never be so self-indulgent as to allow himself the risk of being caught with a young man. His work would always come before pleasure; he was better than that.

Adrian Veidt was bringing about a better world for everyone, just as he had always known he would. He was more of a hero now than before, though he knew that he could not have made it this far without Ozymandias and there were days he wished he could bring that persona back. Truly, there had been no hero greater than him, and maybe someday, that would be something that he could do.

There were nights when he wondered how it had all come to him so easily. Most days he assured himself that it was only natural for someone like him to achieve greatness with little adversity, but even he was not completely beyond paranoia. Most heroes had at least one nemesis, but he had yet to encounter anyone who posed a serious threat to his world. He couldn't help but feel that there was something missing and that there should have been someone or something there to make it harder for him, something standing in the way.

Perhaps he was so great that he was even beyond following the conventions of a hero.


End file.
